Illumination – Supported by vehicle structure – Condition responsive
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-14
2002-02-12
O'Shea, Sandra (Department: 2875)
Illumination
Supported by vehicle structure
Condition responsive
C362S460000, C362S465000, C362S469000, C362S475000, C362S515000, C362S528000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06345905
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a vehicular lamp which includes a lamp body in which is mounted a reflector holding a light source, and which permits adjustment of the angle of the optical axis of the lamp by tilting the reflector.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A headlamp used in vehicles such as automobiles generally is provided with an aiming adjustment mechanism for adjusting the optical axis of a reflector mounted within a lamp body by vertically and laterally tilting the reflector. Headlamps used in some vehicles have a mechanism for automatic leveling the optical axis of the headlamp so that the optical axis is maintained at a predetermined angle relative to the road surface despite tilting motion of the vehicle. In either case the angular adjustment of the optical axis requires the provision of a reflector tilting device capable of tilting either the entire lamp or a reflector disposed within a lamp body.
A reflector tilting device in the case of a lamp in which only the reflector is tilted may be designed such that the reflector is supported on at least one fulcrum so as to be tiltable with respect to the lamp body along a direction required for the adjustment of the optical axis, for example, vertically or laterally. A tilting actuator is disposed at a location other than the fulcrum to displace the reflector along the direction in which it is tiltable. Thereby the reflector is displaced in a required direction so that the aiming angle thereof is adjusted.
In the construction wherein the tilting actuator displaces the reflector, the tilting actuator undergoes a rectilinear motion while the reflector is rotated about the fulcrum. It is necessary in such a case to employ, at the location where the tilting actuator is coupled to the reflector, a connection structure that hinders neither the rectilinear motion of the tilting actuator nor the rotational motion of the reflector. For such a connection structure there has conventionally been employed a ball bearing body in the shape of a groove (hereinafter referred to as a groove-type ball bearing body).
FIG. 7
illustrates the overall structure of such a groove-type ball bearing body.
Referring to
FIG. 7
, a reflector
3
contained in a lamp body
1
can vertically be tilted on a fulcrum (not shown), and a tilting actuator
31
is secured to the lamp body
1
at a location facing the rear surface of the reflector
3
. An actuator rod
32
having at its leading end a spherical leading end portion
33
protrudes from the tilting actuator
31
in the direction of the optical axis of the lamp. The tilting actuator
31
is designed to reciprocally displace the actuator rod
32
in the direction of protrusion when driven. A stem
3
b
protrudes integrally from the rear surface of the reflector
3
at a location facing the actuator rod
32
. A groove-type ball bearing body
21
A is secured to a leading end of the stem
3
b by a screw
7
.
As is apparent from the enlarged perspective view in
FIG. 8A
, the groove-type ball bearing body
21
A, which is plastic-molded, has a semicylindrical groove portion
22
, a pair of engagement strip portions
23
, and stationary portions
25
. The engagement strip portions
23
are formed to protrude on opposed sides along the direction of the groove of the groove portion
22
and have leading end strips
24
bent at an acute angle towards the groove portion
22
. The stationary portions
25
protrude outwardly from bases of the engagement strip portions
23
. Using small holes
26
formed in the stationary portions
25
, the groove-type ball bearing body
21
A is secured to the reflector
3
by the screw
7
so that the opening side of the groove portion
22
is directed towards the tilting actuator
31
. As is apparent from the longitudinal sectional view in
FIG. 8B
, the spherical leading end portion
33
of the actuator rod
32
is fitted in a gap formed between the groove portion
22
and the leading end strips
24
of a pair of the engagement strip portions
23
. In this state, the inner bottom surface of the groove portion
22
and a pair of the leading end strips
24
abut the spherical surface of the spherical leading end portion
33
, and the spherical leading end portion
33
is supported at those abutment points in such a manner as to allow spherical motion.
In this structure, since the groove portion
22
and the engagement strip portions
23
are constant in sectional shape along the direction of the groove, the spherical leading end portion
33
is provided with a degree of freedom in moving in the direction of the groove. Accordingly, if the actuator rod
32
is reciprocally displaced by the tilting actuator
31
in the direction of the optical axis, the groove-type ball bearing body
21
A secured to the reflector
3
is displaced in the direction of the optical axis in accordance with the displacement of the spherical leading end portion
33
. Since the spherical leading end portion
33
has a margin formed in the direction of the groove of the groove portion
22
, the reflector
3
is tiltable with respect to the actuator rod
32
in a required direction, vertically in this case.
The groove-type ball bearing body
21
A is plastic-molded as described above and designed such that the molding die is drafted in the direction of the groove of the groove portion
22
. Therefore the groove portion
22
and the engagement strip portions
23
are constant in sectional shape along the direction of the groove. Also, the groove portion
22
has opposed open ends. Hence, if the reflector
3
has been tilted greatly, that is, if the spherical leading end portion
33
has been tilted to a large angular position relative to the groove-type ball bearing body
21
A, there is a concern, as illustrated in
FIG. 8C
, that the spherical leading end portion
33
might slide to one open end of the groove portion
22
, be removed through the gap between the groove portion
22
and the engagement strip portions
23
, and drop from the groove-type ball bearing body
21
A. If the spherical leading end portion
33
has been disengaged in this manner, the reflector cannot thereafter be tilted, which makes the automatic leveling adjustment of the optical axis impossible.
Also, the spherical leading end portion
33
tends to drop from the groove-type ball bearing body
21
A when the actuator is removed from the lamp body during assembly of or maintenance on the actuator. Once the spherical leading end portion
33
has dropped from the groove-type ball bearing body
21
A, it becomes difficult to fit the spherical leading end portion into the groove-type ball bearing body from the side of the actuator. This causes a problem of deterioration in workability.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicular lamp having a reflector tilting device which prevents a spherical leading end portion of a tilting actuator from dropping out of a reflector-side groove-type ball bearing body.
In accordance with this and other objects, the invention provides a vehicular lamp in which a reflector tilting device capable of tilting a reflector mounted in a lamp body includes a tilting actuator disposed in the lamp body and having an actuator rod displacable along the direction of the optical axis of the reflector and a groove-type ball bearing body mounted to the reflector and fitted to a spherical leading end portion provided at a leading end of the actuator rod. The groove-type ball bearing body has a groove portion which has two open ends and into which the spherical leading end portion is fitted, an engagement strip portion disposed to cover the groove portion from either side and engaging the spherical leading end portion on a front side of the groove portion, and a dropout-preventing portion formed at either side of the groove portion protruding towards the interior of the groove portion and preventing the spherical leading end portion from dropping from either open end of the groove portion.
In this construction, a pair of engagement strip portions are provi
Kibayashi Michinobu
Oishi Katutami
Shida Hiroshi
Koito Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
O'Shea Sandra
Sughrue & Mion, PLLC
Zeade Bertrand
LandOfFree
Vehicular lamp having improved reflector tilting device does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Vehicular lamp having improved reflector tilting device, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Vehicular lamp having improved reflector tilting device will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2948903